The Snake

I am deathly afraid  of snakes. Not even an exaggeration, they absolutely send shivers up my spine even when I think of them.

So you can imagine my horror when I got a text message from my neighbour at 3am that her boyfriend just got bit by a snake down by the end of our driveway!

I believe her words were that he got bit by a snake hiding under the garbage can and I better watch out because they are poisonous and "they are everywhere". Especially with little kids.

Immediately I panicked, especially since Maddy is down by the garbage can every day checking the mailbox, and Charlie spent that entire afternoon pushing his little wagon around the front yard while I cleaned out the shed.

Despite the fact that it took me at least an hour to fall asleep that night after reading her message, I woke up feeling like we needed to move out of this house and into a top-story apartment building.

Andrew did a bit of research and discovered it was a European viper, which are venomous. However, they are usually very scared of people and bites are rare. I am trying to be more relaxed about it and realize it was a fluke that this happened to our neighbour (who is fine, by the way) but it's hard for me to shake the feeling that the kids should just be allowed to wander my front yard without me inspecting the grounds first.

I have encouraged Maddy to stomp her feet before approaching the mailbox, to announce her arrival as she nears the garbage can. I have pushed the can over a couple of times and there was no snake there anymore. The good news is that my classmates have given me really good advice on how to deal with the snake (apparently shovels are the trick) and my landlord told me about pills you can buy at the pharmacy for home use in case anything happened.

Although I am tempted to give a point to Canada for this mishap, Andrew was nice enough to point out that there were venomous snakes in Canada as well. I ponder why it appears that I know nothing...